Of the Rank and File
by Nicodemus V
Summary: There is more than one path to being a hero. There is more than one definition of a hero. Your dreams may be smashed, but eventually you realize that perhaps there is something greater than yourself to discover. To love. To protect.
1. Prologue I

**I'll be trying to break a bad habit here. Unfortunately on FanFiction, and for many amateur fanfiction writers and consumers in general, the belief that having a high word count equates to a quality story is widespread. This self imposed requirement to have a high word count stems from the desire to have reviews; to see the number of reviews go ever higher with each chapter, and to become a "popular" or "skilled" writer. As a result, what is produced is often a mass of words put together, with some vague sense of story, but ultimately just lends itself to being skimmed through. The arrival is typically late as well.**

**This is not all writers; this is not all consumers. But I think I have fallen into this trap, and so I will try to break out of it.**

_**The New World**_** is indefinitely postponed. I may return to it. Or I may never. I just do hope some people found satisfaction reading it.**

**Regarding RWBY, I have not gone any further than the Fall of Beacon, which I think is Volume 3. Rumors and hearsay is what prevents me from watching further - issues regarding writing quality, pacing, and character interaction and development from the writers at RoosterTeeth make me worry if I'm just wasting time watching Volumes 4, 5, or 6. So I apologize in advance for any issues regarding canon. But the spirit of fanfiction is to alter the source universe, right?**

**So here's a new story, a new style, and hopefully some new expectations from me.**

* * *

**Of the Rank and ****File**

**Prologue**

* * *

Common sense, when one thinks about it, dictates much of what a human being does.

For example, it is common sense that there exist Grimm on Remnant.

It is common sense that there are two sentient races on Remnant: humans and faunus.

It is common sense that there are four kingdoms: Atlas, Mistral, Vale, and Vacuo.

It is common sense that one should not jump off a cliff if one's peers were to do so.

What this does to the human psyche is normalize the status quo. It is not questioned or changed or modified. A train of thought, for example, could flash in one's mind as:

_There are only four kingdoms because there are Grimm._

The train is short, but the knowledge surrounding it is solid, sturdy, stable.

Adding to the train, a chain of though could flash, for example, as:

_There are only four kingdoms because human settlements outside the kingdoms do not survive because there are Grimm_.

Like some pseudo-coding language, a logical statement has just formed. The train is a little longer, but the knowledge surrounding it is solid, sturdy, stable. It is not questioned or changed or modified. The status quo is that villages could form and disappear overnight in Remnant, and no one questions it because that knowledge is solid, sturdy, stable. The line of thought thus expands.

If there are only four kingdoms because human settlements outside the kingdoms do not survive because there are Grimm, then humanity is confined to four kingdoms.

If there are only four kingdoms because human settlements outside the kingdoms do not survive because there are Grimm, then humanity is confined to four kingdoms and the Grimm prevent an age of human dominance.

If there are only four kingdoms because human settlements outside the kingdoms do not survive because there are Grimm, then humanity is confined to four kingdoms and the Grimm prevent an age of human dominance - villages will continue to rise and fall in the span of hours, and lives will constantly be lost.

If there are only four kingdoms because human settlements outside the kingdoms do not survive because there are Grimm, then humanity is confined to four kingdoms and the Grimm prevent an age of human dominance - villages will continue to rise and fall in the span of hours, and lives will constantly be lost. It is an endless, hopeless struggle that will never change.

But those who cannot change their minds cannot change anything*.

Counselor Darrin Coales sat in his office in the Vale Governing Building. Before him was a pile of papers on top of an ornate, wooden desk. Before that were two lavish, black leather chairs, guarded from the back by a single tall lamp, all encompassed in a room with a beige wooden floor and cherry red painted walls. It was not an overly large room, was actually quite cozy, and all necessary functions of an office were completed within it. To go anywhere within it took a reasonable number of steps.

Behind him, behind his tall, leather chair, was a long window, it's brown curtains drawn back.

And beyond that, was a crowd in the thousands

It was, perhaps, the strongest display of racial unity and social solidarity ever seen in history. Darrin, in all his years of public service, had never seen anything like the display of power before him. High on the ladder though he may be, it humbled him. He was but one man, his power granted to him by the masses. Yet that was the difference between Darrin and them.

The crowd flooded the streets, the police force doing their best to contain the protest within reasonable bounds and preventing it from impeding further traffic. They took care of overly violent protestors, directed those who wished to participate, and allowed those who wished to retire for the day to retire.

It was not an unsanctioned protest. They had received permission from the government, from some far off section of bureaucracy specialized towards protests. Formidable the natural defenses of Vale may be, as well as the gargantuan walls surrounding the kingdom, Huntsmen were still dispatched to take care of any Grimm that may be drawn to the emotions of the crowd.

Though they may be his opponents, Darrin did not despise them. He did not dislike them. In fact, he was proud of them.

The signs they held reflected the values of Vale, a kingdom of art and culture.

**"PEACE FOR VALE!"**

Of peace and prosperity.

**"WE STAND WITH HUNTERS."**

Of diversity and unity.

**"SAY NO TO WAR!"**

Their chants were strong. It was clear they did not like him, his policies.

But the crowd in front of him was strong as well. And they numbered far, far greater than the pool of heads in the street.

This crowd filled the room he occupied. This crowd filled the hallways outside the room. This crowd filled the parking lot, surrounded the opposing protestors, stood in the homes of all of Vale, in the shops of all of Vale, in the clubs and bars and schools and colleges and warehouses and factories of Vale.

This crowd filled the land outside of Vale, outside the massive walls of solitude that protected Vale for ages.

This crowd had numbers far beyond that of the opposition. They had dreams and lives and families and lovers and friends and sons and daughters and boyfriends and girlfriends and babies and children and businesses.

They had aspirations, memories, hopes, and moments of their lives. They had lives.

Yet despite this overwhelming number, this overwhelming superiority, they did not shout or hold signs or chant like their opposition.

Their unity was just as strong as the opposition.

These lives were Darrin's supporters. They were the ones who gave him power.

From the pile of papers on his desk, Darrin took the topmost one and signed it in the blood of millions.

Thus, the Vale Defense Force was founded.


	2. Prologue II

**Of the Rank and File**

**Prologue II**

* * *

_"I'm sorry, Mr. Arc."_

The words of Ozpin hung in his mind, contributing to an increasingly intense feeling of dread. The hallway that he once walked so often and felt so short now had the distance of only one more trip.

_"Recent events have forced us to review our policies regarding the quality of hunstmen-in-training as well as the standards which we place upon those who desire entrance into Beacon."_

Was it the Breach? Jaune thought he performed adequately during that emergency. He came out of it alive, didn't he? As leader, he kept his team alive and even team RWBY left that dangerous bout with death unscathed. The first major Grimm incursion into the heart of Vale in decades and there was not much relative bloodshed or death. Surely, his performance during that scene was not insufficient as a huntsman-in-training?

He was in training, after all. Yes, he was a huntsman-in-training.

_"When I first reviewed your application, I'll admit there were some discrepancies between your application and the references we contacted. However, you were just one of many and so I did not pay much attention to it. Miss Goodwitch's report on your performance in combat class also intrigued me but your handling of the situation in Forever Fall dissuaded any further suspicions of mine. Mr. Arc, I genuinely believe you have potential."_

_"Then why am I here, Mr. Ozpin?"_

Ozpin did not immediately answer. There were many answers he could give. Conversely, the question Jaune asked could be applied to a number of things. He could mean "why am I at Beacon" or "why am I in your office" or "why am I in Vale?"

_"You are here... for your own safety."_

_"What?"_

_"Mr. Arc, for your own safety and well-being, I am dropping you from Beacon Academy."_

Neither Jaune or Ozpin said very much after that. To Ozpin, Jaune appeared as though on the verge of tears. He looked like he was about to burst out of his clothes, his heart ready to dissolve as a Grimm does after its supposed death. For Ozpin, he wanted to release the boy from the prison his office was quickly becoming for him.

_"Jaune," Ozpin called,"You are dismissed from the rest of your classes today. The weekend begins tomorrow."_

Ozpin didn't want to murder the boy anymore than he already had. In what he considered a generous act of mercy from one functioning adult to another, Ozpin granted him until Monday of the next week to vacate Beacon.

Reaching the dorm of team JNPR, Jaune realized just what, in that immediate area, he was going to probably never do again.

He would never walk these halls again.

He would never open the door to a dorm full of teammates again.

He would never be late to a lecture. Nor would he ever arrive on time for dinner ever again.

He would, most likely, never see the friends that he made here ever again.

That was a cynical thought. Yet, in review of his mind, when was the last time he spoke to any of his old friends from high school? They had gone down their own paths as well as he did. Sure, the advent of the Scroll and the CCT made global communication a cinch.

But people have lives and those lives move on regardless of who they leave behind.

* * *

The weekend that Ozpin gave Jaune was not, in fact, a generous act of mercy from one functioning adult to another.

When he told his team what was going to happen, they were in shock. It appeared to them that all was fine and normal - they were all hunstman-in-training, right? The point of academies such as Beacon is "to train people with heart and courage into the manifestation of such ideals." That's what Ren said, that magnificent wise man. After all, the only difference between a normal civilian and a hunstman was training.

Nevertheless, the team knew they could not change what was set in stone. For as much as they cared for Jaune, the tiniest inkling of fear in the back of their own minds reigned over any impulse to reverse the decision of Ozpin. Unfortunately, this tiny inkling of fear also had with it the cold, hard logic of reasoning. Indeed, Jaune was by the far the weakest in the team, perhaps in all of Beacon. Though they were only in their first year, the recent Breach reminded all of humanity that the Grimm do not wait for when they are ready.

It was decided by Nora that their last weekend together would be filled with "the funnest, most craziest, most ridiculous things we can do together!"

In a way it was. Immediately after that, they went into Vale. They went to the ocean, walked along the sand. They had dinner at a rather famous fast food joint, known for its local flare and atmosphere. Pyrrah made her own wealth known by generously paying for everyone's meal. Over food, the functioning adults pressed Jaune on what he was going to do after leaving Beacon.

"So Jaune," Ren asked, burger in hand and cup of water to the side, "What's your plan?"

"A plan? For what?"

"For after Beacon."

It was an interesting query, one with a lot of depth to it. Jaune ran through the possibilities quickly through his mind. He had enough lien to last him another month, maybe a month and a half if he spent scarcely. He could stay in Vale, find a place, get a job, and live like a normal citizen.

His friends approved of the plan. It seemed stable enough. It was the story of just about 99% of Vale. The occupation of "Hunter," glorious and generous in lien as it was, was not an occupation that anyone could fill. It was a very specialized occupation. Pyrrah was a prime example; from a very young age she began training in the art of combat. Her skills were honed over years of training, instincts developed from a plethora of experiences and tournament fights. Though she represented an extreme, Ren and Nora were not far behind either.

In a way, one had to be "born" a Hunter.

The next day, team RWBY joined them. It was another day of leisure, but more hectic with four additional bodies in the group. Ruby clung to Jaune the whole day, much to the chagrin of Pyrrah, as she took him to just about every single arcade in the city. The others, not wanting to leave their team leaders behind, simply followed them like parents babysitting toddlers.

Yet all the amusement could not stop Jaune from thinking about what his life was going to become. Team RWBY approved of his plan as much as Ren, Nora, and Pyrrah did, but Jaune could not help but think.

"This is boring," Jaune slipped.

Ruby stopped.

Pyrrah stopped.

Everyone looked to Jaune, wondering if they heard him correctly.

It was Ruby and her innocent soul that saved the atmosphere.

"Oh!" she peeped out, "We've just been going to places we've already been, right? Sorry, I just couldn't think of anywhere else and how its going to be a while before we all see you again and how we used to always go to the arcade together and-"

Jaune quickly raised both hands up in surrender, stopping Ruby from infinitely increasing her talking speed and pitch.

"No, wait, it's not that, really," Jaune sighed, "I was just thinking of how my life is going to be after this."

Ruby squeaked out a quiet "oh" before going silent. Jaune apologized for ruining the mood, to which Ren disagreed that he did, before leading everyone to the next famous seaside restaurant known for its wide assortment of a dinner buffet.

In a way, Jaune spoke for everyone. It's just that he was speaking for them far too early.

* * *

The day of Jaune's departure came far too slow for Jaune's liking. To his friends, it arrived far too fast. However, there was still a sense of unease, a tiny cell of doubt and anxiety grew in the back of Jaune's mind.

He was an _adult_ now. The implications of this were broad, but the common thread that held it all together was the most taut of them all - independence.

Of course, Ozpin notified his parents that he would be returning to Beacon. Jaune was informed of this. But that was all. He did not tell him what their reaction was. Did they sound relieved? Did they sound joyful?

Adding to the stress was the fact that Jaune had not contacted his family at all since his arrival at Beacon. He did not call once during his brief stay at Beacon. Nor did he call them to inform them of his return. Ozpin had been the one to do so, more out of responsibility as an educator than anything, but what did such silence reflect off of Jaune? The sole son of the prestigious Arc family who swiped the ancestral blade of his clan, disappeared into the night like a vagabond, and entered the highly selective Beacon Academy with falsified transcripts provided to him through criminal means? The same son being deported from Beacon?

Jaune thought he'd be lucky to even be _called _an Arc when he arrived home. _If _he arrived home.

The means of transportation that Ozpin had arranged for him did not necessarily specify any certain location. In theory, Jaune could go anywhere. He could go home or stay in Vale or go to Mistral or Atlas or Vacuo. He was, after all, an adult.

As it was a Monday, classes were in session, but his old team and Team RWBY were both present at the airport to quickly see him off. It was early in the morning and some light fog hung in the air around them, but all the people he could call his friends were assembled in front of him. Despite his thoughts, Jaune cracked a small smile at the sight in front of him.

"I don't suppose we'll ever see each other again," Jaune morbidly admitted. He was looking at Pyrrah when he said this, but the sentiment extended to everyone there.

"C'mon, that's nonsense, of course we'll see each other again. There's winter break and summer break and all the little holidays in between."

Jaune could see it in Pyrrah that she struggled to make that excuse. He could see the strain in her throat as she spoke, how heavy it was, how much strength it was taking her to not burst into tears and just hold him. Not to beg or plead, but to just hold in her arms the young man that came to be her partner all those months ago in the Forever Falls.

"Yea! Like, winter break is only six weeks away, guys, it'll only be like two months at most."

"One month," Ren corrected, having done the mental math in his head.

"One month! That's even shorter!" Nora relished at how short the time would be before they could see their leader again. She was right, too. Class was only in session during the weekdays and they had weekends off unless one voluntarily attended a weekend lecture or study group or other supplementary function. If Jaune chose to stay and work in Vale, that meant they could basically see him every Friday and Saturday and Sunday. The prime days for relaxation and enjoyment.

Jaune saw the value in such an estimate that he couldn't stop himself from smiling too. "Alright then guys, one month. I swear, one month and you guys won't even recognize me, I'll be a new man, I'm going to walk back up here in a damn suit and tie and I'll take you all out for dinner!"

"Oh?" Weiss questioned. "On the gods? _You_ will pay for _all _of us?"

"I said so, didn't I?" Jaune looked Weiss in the eyes, making direct eye contact with her own steely gaze. Although his time at Beacon was short, it had done wonders for both of them. Such banter was not present in the early days of their friendship.

"Okay Weiss," Yang called out, "You don't gotta flex on him like that, just let him do it. It's free food, right Jaunie?" Jaune nodded.

"First paycheck, I come back here and take everyone out for dinner. On the gods," Jaune looked back at Weiss when he ended, and she couldn't help but chuckle at his ambition. But free food was free food.

"OH, OH, OH!" Ruby suddenly shouted. "Let's go to a Mistralian BBQ!"

"I didn't know you liked that kind of food, Ruby," Blake asked the girl. Being from Menagerie herself, such fare had eventually spread to across the world, even to a land as isolated as Menagerie.

"I like it 'cause I get to cook the meat myself! Yang and my dad never let me cook at home."

"It's because she either burns it or leaves it half dead," Yang loudly whispered to Blake.

"Oh my gods, I DO NOT! It was _you _who taught me how to grill meat in the first place!"

As Ruby defended her style of cooking, Jaune saw the bullhead pilot signal to him. From his hand gesture, the aircraft seemed ready to take off at any moment and was just waiting on it's sole passenger. Ozpin had chartered this aircraft to take him wherever he requested so long it was within a reasonable distance. The flight also did not necessarily have to take place in the morning, as Ozpin didn't specify any specific time he had to leave. It just had to be before the day was over.

"I think that's my ride, guys," Jaune announced, "I shouldn't keep him waiting."

"We have class soon as well. We should leave some time for ourselves to prepare as well."

Ren stepped forward and drew Jaune into a quick hug, clapping the man on the back. He looked him straight in the eyes and nodded, silently wishing him good luck on the next chapter of Jaune's life.

Weiss and Blake said their goodbyes, not wanting to keep Jaune for too long. Ruby clamped onto Jaune one more time before being pulled off by Yang, who proceeded to also clamp onto Jaune and _pick him up_ before putting him back on the earth. Nora, in a surprising act of calmness, gave Jaune a light hug.

"We'll see you in a month, leader!"

"Take care of the team, second-in-command."

Nora's face lit up upon hearing her newfound title. While she gushed to Ren about it and how that meant he _had_ to make her pancakes every morning without fail now, Jaune looked to Pyrrah. The girl had been watching them all talk and say their goodbyes. Pyrrah never thought that a moment like this would ever come. It was something out of a movie, to be saying goodbye like this.

"You look like you want to say something, Pyr," Jaune noted. Everyone had stopped talking, waiting for Pyrrah to make her big confession.

Despite her best efforts to hide them, the girl wore her feelings on her sleeve. Being at Beacon had changed her, much like Weiss, in a way that had left her loving friendship again. These people were genuine, not corporate, and to have one of them leave her so soon was heart-wrenching. Though she didn't feel it now, the absence of this blond in her life for the foreseeable future would be heavy on her mind.

"Oh gods, Jaune," Pyrrah choked out, "Don't make this so hard."

"I'm sorry-"

"Don't be sorry," she cut him off, wrapping her former team leader in a hug, "I'll see you again. One month. We'll all get dinner and you're going to pay for us."

"Yeah," Jaune breathed out, not used to having Pyrrah be so bold, "We'll go to a Mistralian BBQ."

"I know a great place," Pyrrah had tears in her eyes, tears that she pressed into Jaune's chest, "I'm from Mistral. I can verify it."

"It better be great then, 'cause I'm the one dropping the cards for it."

Pyrrah found the strength to agree and push herself off of Jaune, who could only smile as Pyrrah did. Her eyes were red from the tears that had quickly flooded her vision. With one final nod, Jaune turned and boarded the bullhead, greeting the pilot and thanking him for waiting for so long.

"Got some good friends, huh kid?"

As the door closed and the bullhead lifted off, Jaune could only smile and nod at the pilot. He was the only one aboard and so there was no hesitation when Jaune told the pilot his intended destination from the cabin. When the pilot confirmed the destination and gave no other concerns, Jaune laid down on the floor of the bullhead, there being no seats and the flight being nine hours should there be no complications.

On the floor looking up, Jaune could feel no motion sickness overcome him. Perhaps his mind was still elsewhere, still on the ground at Beacon with his friends.

Aside from the pilot, Jaune was the only one aboard the bullhead. There was not a huge crowd of students like on his arrival at Beacon.

There was no vomit, no dust explosion, no crabby rich girl or dark emo girl.

No hyperactive reaper or busty big sister.

No looming stone statue of his forefather gazing down upon him.

There was no Cardin, no Grimm, no Ozpin, no Glynda, no combat class.

No Pyrrah.

The drone of the bullhead's engines was all there was, the occasional radio chatter from the cockpit, and the sound of Jaune's own breathing.

Beacon grew small as Jaune fell asleep.

* * *

The light _ding_ of the PA system on board the bullhead very gently woke Jaune up.

Rubbing his eyes, the blond found that he had apparently cried in his sleep. Getting up and stretching out, he rubbed the sore spots of his back and looked outside the windows, checking his appearance through the reflection and noting the sky outside.

The sun was setting and the clouds were broken. Below him, the see forest for miles on end. In the distance, mountains arose from the earth, guarding the valley like a scarecrow does crops. On the other side of the bullhed, a massive body of water stretched into the horizon, seemingly never ending.

Moving to the cockpit, Jaune peeked his head in and greeted the pilot, who grunted out "hey" while keeping his eyes locked forward. The poor man had been flying for nine hours straight with no co-pilot as far as Jaune knew. Whatever he was doing before this flight surely kept him awake for even longer.

Coming up in front was a sprawling coastal city, with large stone walls extending out into the forest. A couple of fishing ships were moored at the docks, the rest slowly coming in from a long day's trawl. The airport that hosted the bullheads was somewhat busy, a single tower jutting out from the flatness of it all. Already, Jaune could see some lights on downtown, the tops of the buildings slowly tapering off into a suburban district of humble abodes and low-rising apartments.

As the sun set on the massive lake, the rays shined off the few glass towers in the city. Vale may be the largest city in the Kingdom, but Luminar was not far behind. It was one of the few cities in the entire Kingdom of Vale that had enough resources and money to grow freely by itself. It's position in the Sunset Valley was ideal, as was it's position next to the Emerald Lake. When the Kingdom of Vale was being formed, Luminar joined with little to no qualms, recognizing the benefits of being part of a nation that enjoyed such natural defenses against Grimm.

As the bullhead was cleared for landing, Jaune felt oddly tranquil.

He was home. He was about to meet his family again whom he had not spoken to in some time. Old friends, too.

Being home with family was the ideal situation for any young man who had been away for a while. They would hug and kiss, get dinner, and Jaune could sleep in his childhood bed once again, in his childhood home.

As Jaune walked off the ramp into the arrivals terminal, Jaune looked for a huge blob of blond in the area.

He did not see it so much as he _felt_ it. The little girl that crashed into him was clearly no stranger, and she was doing her best to wrap her small arms around him.

"Jaune!"

Jaune smiled, "Hey Sophie."

Jaune picked his youngest sister up, holding her in his left arm as she rambled.

"Sophie, where's Mama?"

"There!"

The little girl pointed at a large blob of blond, casting itself on a backdrop of black mirrors. Though it had been several months, none of them had changed very much.

_Imagine if it had been the full four years..._

Jaune was brought out of his thoughts by the deep voice coming from the only other male blond in the group.

"Hey dad," Jaune greeted.

"My son," the man said, "How have you been?"

"I've been good," the boy awkwardly eked out.

It was a couple more moments of just nervously standing around before the sisters pushed them all together for a group hug. From there, both men laughed and the Arc head drew his son into a long hug, clapping him on the back and remarking how tough Jaune's body felt, how only a few months had changed him so dramatically.

"Oh yeah, dad," Jaune reached into his bag for Crocea Mors, the heirloom that he had stolen from the house walls all those months ago, "I should give this back to you."

The Arc head looked at Jaune and the blade in his hands before pushing it back into Jaune's arms. He shook his head.

"I no longer have any need for that sword, Jaune. Why do you think it was on the wall?" With that he gathered the family together and herded them out of the airport, away from the arrival terminal that was rapidly becoming crowded. While the two parents walked in front, Jaune's sisters bugged him about his stay at Beacon, a flurry of blond hair surrounding him and bombarding him with nonsensical questions.

"How was Beacon like?"

"It was cool, big campus, lots of people."

"Were there any girls?" one of his sisters cheekily asked. Jaune scoffed at the query since the answer should've been obvious.

"Of course there were girls there, Beacon is co-ed."

"Bro, you know that's not what we meant," the oldest sister replied, "So cough it up!"

The question came just as the group had reached the family car, so that meant Jaune would have to answer this question in an enclosed space, completely within earshot of everyone including his parents. But Jaune had two friends by the names of "Ruby" and "Yang" and so such trickery would not affect this seasoned veteran of pranks.

Wanting to completely bamboozle his sisters, Jaune paused before replying, "There were... _six_ girls."

Sophia, Sasha, and Stephanie, the youngest triplets of the seven sisters, all gasped, calling Jaune a "cheater" and a "manwhore." Jaune instantly turned and asked them where they learned that last word. While not a controlling older brother, Jaune still took his role as the oldest of them all somewhat seriously, especially when it came to the three babies of the family.

"It's Juliet's fault!" the triplets shouted. Jaune turned to his twin, younger than him by only a scant three hours, whose cheeks quickly flushed red in embarrassment and fury.

"Juliet," Jaune addressed his younger twin, slowly turning his head in his seat in the car, "What's that supposed to mean? What are they talking about?"

Teresa, sitting next to Jaune, whispered-but-not-really-whispered in his ear, "She got a boyfriend while you were gone and they broke up a month ago. Last week she saw him with another girl at the mall and she made a scene in public and-"

"Holy shit, 'Rese, I said I would tell him when we got home!" Juliet shouted. Teresa laughed, saying she couldn't help it. Now _this_, Jaune absolutely had to hear.

"I'll just tell him now. So when you left, Jules here went, like, boy-crazy or something and she told me she got asked out by-"

"TERESA, HOLY SHIT-"

"And then they started dating and she's like all starry eyed and stuff and like 'he went to the creek and got me a rock, he's so romantic,' like that's the best he could do-"

"Oh my gods, Jaune don't listen to her, she's friggin' lying, she's a damn liar, I'll tell you what actually happened when-"

"You still have the damn rock he gave you UNDER YOUR BED!"

"IT'S A NICE FUCKING ROCK!" Juliet turned to the "middle" sister.

"Girls! No shouting, your father is driving," the Arc matriarch chided. They drove on in silence for a bit longer before Juliet turned the tables on Jaune.

"So, who were the six girls?" she quietly asked. Jaune almost didn't want to answer in fear of having another episode of shouting, but the tiniest part of Jaune that was affected by Ruby and Yang's mischief overpowered the rational side of him.

Plus, it was fun to joke with his sisters.

"There were six girls I knew," Jaune started, "I knew... Pyrrah Nikos-"

"Wait, what?" Maxie and Michelle interrupted, "You knew Pyrrah Nikos?"

"She was my partner on my team," Jaune explained.

"No way," Maxie couldn't believe it, "Pyrrah Nikos, five time consecutive winner of the Mistral Championship, was _your _partner?"

"Yes," Jaune was a bit annoyed, guessing at what they were implying, "She didn't like that being mentioned about her though, so I never talked about it much with her."

Shutting down the two combat-enthusiast sisters, Jaune continued, "I also knew Weiss Schnee-"

"You were friends with Weiss Schnee?!" Teresa yelled. Every Arc child collectively went "shush!" while Teresa repeated herself in a sharp whisper.

"Yes, I knew Weiss. She was cold at first, but before I left I guess you could say we were on casual speaking terms."

"Ooh," Juliet smirked, "'Casual speaking terms,' huh? Now what's _that_ supposed to mean, huh?"

"Casual speaking terms" meant exactly that, casual speaking terms, but for Jaune's sisters, it meant so much more. Jaune did not communicate with them at all while he was at Beacon, and so anything and everything Jaune talked about came with some level of mystery and fantasy. Though Juliet was of age to enter a combat university as well, she was not attending _Beacon Academy_, the premiere institution for Hunter training.

Jaune breathed in, closed his eyes, and summoned all his willpower. The one doing the heckling was now the one being heckled.

"I tried to serenade her with a song."

For a good, agonizingly long minute, no one said anything.

"You shoot your shot, son," Jaune's father said from the front, looking back at his son through the rear-view mirror, "That's all you can really do."

His mother nodded in agreement. But still, no word from his sisters.

Outside the car, the world moved on from that minute and the minutes after. The lights were in full bloom in the city and the streets slowly became suburban as they travelled home from the airport. However, while the streets became more familiar to Jaune, this uncomfortable long silence was not one he remembered.

"So..." Michelle droned through the stillness, "Did she like it?"

"No," Jaune shut her down.

"Oh."

"I had a nickname for her."

"Which was...?"

"'Snow Angel.'"

Jaune's mom coughed, clearly trying to suppress laughter before her husband covered her up, whispering to his wife, "He tried his best, Kristie, c'mon."

Wanting to mention everyone, Jaune continued, listing off Ruby, Yang, Nora, Blake, and his only other male friend Ren.

"Yang named you 'vomit boy'?" Teresa laughed.

"Yea and Ruby was 'crater face,'" Jaune added.

"That sounds like bullying, Jaune," Stephanie naively said.

The oldest child shook his head, saying it was just teasing from Yang.

It was just good natured fun from good natured people.

Finally, two hours later, Jaune's father pulled into the driveway of their family home. It was quiet and dark and although the trees had been thinned out somewhat there was still that level of seclusion that came with living a little closer to the forest. The moon was already shining and the glow from the city was in full effect, although the typical noise was not.

Jaune's mother unlocked the house and for the first time in months, Jaune stepped into his childhood home. A wave of exhaustion hit the blond as his mind switched to autopilot, skillfully navigating up the stairs and to his room like he never left in the first place. Even while the second floor was still dark and his mom was calling everyone for dinner downstairs, Jaune ignored the summons and opened his bedroom door.

Stepping in, he laid down on a bed he had not laid on in months and fell into a familiar sleep he had not felt for months.

* * *

**This chapter comes roughly a month after the last one. I noticed it as I was finishing it up today, so I guess this is an appropriate time table.**

**In case you didn't catch them, Jaune's sisters are Sophie, Sasha, Stephanie, Teresa, Maxie, Michelle, and Juliet. Sophie is the youngest, while Juliet is only hours younger than Jaune. Teresa is a middle child in the sense that she is the only one whose name starts with a "T" as well as her isolated birth compared to the others. Jaune's mother's name is Kristen. Jaune's father's name was not mentioned here. **


End file.
